


Told Often Enough

by AceQueenKing



Category: Star Wars (Marvel Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Lies, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rival Relationship, Terex is an author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 08:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15945410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceQueenKing/pseuds/AceQueenKing
Summary: Terex writes a self-aggrandizing memoir full of lies and slander about some of the biggest names on the galactic stage, including Poe Dameron.Unfortunately for Poe, it takes the galaxy by storm.





	Told Often Enough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [musamihi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/musamihi/gifts).



The giggling did not ping Poe as particularly dangerous at first. It wasn't uncommon for the pilots in his squadron to have a good time and joke around during maintenance. His first thought was that he was missing out on a particularly good practical joke that BB-8 would be sure to pass on to him during their off hours. (No one on his crew gossiped as much as BB-8, but after all that he had put the little droid through, Poe figured BB-8 deserved it.)

But the laughed had continued for far longer, and Poe slowly became aware more and more that the attention of his crew was on him.

Jessica Pava was looking at him, her nose wrinkled in what was either distaste or trying very hard not to sneeze. Snap was reading from some data pad but glancing up frequently while Deb Ollie was crying from laughter. Even the normally quite staid old man, Nien, was staring at Poe with his head tilted to the side, as if seeing Poe in a new light.

Poe scrubbed at his face, figuring he must have gotten oil on his forehead in a particularly hilarious pattern - he had just changed _Black Two’s_ engine grease and that stuff had the tendency to go everywhere. But even after he'd carefully wiped at his face, the whispers continued.

Poe frowned. He was beginning to feel like he was being left out of something big, and he liked it not at all. After a few minutes of sustained giggling, he rolled out from under his creeper and stood. The giggling continued. None of them seemed to react much to him coming over.

"What's going on?" He asked. "Something funny?"

"Oh, nothing, boss," Deb Ollie said, keeping her eyes down. Nien nodded enthusiastically, pointing out with elaborate hand gestures that they were simply taking advantage of the cooling time between testing the hyper drive and pouring in the lubrication oil for the wings.

"Oh, just joking, right?" He raised an eyebrow. "What’s the joke?"

Now everyone looked at the floor, not just Ollie. Poe's heart sunk in his chest. Had he somehow made his crew afraid of him? He'd taken more than his fair share of ribbing in the past and prided himself on taking his lumps. It was part of life in the service, after all; you either had to laugh or cry at the state of the universe and Poe was determined to have the last laugh at it. Or perhaps the joke was not about him at all, but something more sensitive - the general's nearly sleepless vigilant watch on what passed for the command table, or a joke aimed more at what exactly Kylo Ren his under that ugly mask.

But no matter what the joke was, it didn't matter. What did matter was his group not trusting him; it wasn't a personal matter but rather life or death in the skies. He'd damn well want them to be able to call his bad decisions in the air and dragging their feet on something this innocuous was bad.

"What gives?" He asked. Ollie and Snap looked at one another for a long moment, then Snap, looking suspiciously contrite, put a data pad in his hands.

 _Terex: The Power of Order: A Life of An Extraordinary Soldier on the Precipice of History, as told by Himself_ was displayed at the very top, next to a picture of Terex grinning. The ugly mug was laying on top of a table that suggested nothing so much as the Death Star. There were two pinup models on banners behind him, one unmistakably the General in her younger days being carried by a stormtrooper while she looked on lovingly; the other an illustration of Captain Phasma in a position that Poe suspected it was highly impossible for a woman in that much armor to actually bend herself into. _A shocking tell-all!_ beamed out of one corner; _will destroy everything you thought was true!_ was printed the other.

"What is this?" He asked, flipping through the pages.

"It's just..." Snap looked at him. "Just funny, that's all."

"Yeah, I can see it," he said, one eyebrow arched at the title of the first chapter: "Leia Organa: Imperial Spymaster" and rolled his eyes. "People believe this stuff?"

"Obviously not," Snap said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, some of its probably true, but a lot of it - it's just fun, that's all."

"Fun," he said, sourly, his eyes barely believing the outright gleeful spread of lies on the page: evidently, Terex had not only taken the General's virginity, but had helped her pass messages from Darth Vader to the Rebel leadership. He couldn't imagine either part of it, but he could certainly imagine her face when she found out exactly what Terex had said.

"Yeah, it's - it's not serious. I mean, obviously a lot of it is lies," Ollie said. She tucked her dark brown hair behind her ears and blushed. "Like the parts about you, I mean - who would believe that?"

"About me?" Poe frowned, wondering exactly which story Terex would spin for him. He doubted it could be more outlandish than the one told about the General. His finger brushed the search button, and heard the holding of his entire crew’s breath surrounding him on all sides, as if a dozen voices cried out in bated breath at once.

"Boss - " breathed Snap.

"Uhm..." offered Jess.

Nien Nunb whispered something like _slatka_ in his own language, while Deb's soul looked as if it was literally about to dance away from her body.

"Uhm, keep it," Deb Ollie said, her words coming far-too-fast. "You know, we've all read it and boss - you know, it's something you need to _savor_."

"Y-Yeah," Jess said, nodding; Nunb quickly joined her, and before long, Snap, too, was nodding as his very beard depended on it.

"Maybe we should get back to overhauls," Nien Nunb suggested; it took little more for everyone to agree. Poe still felt a little worried, but it was easy enough to lose himself into the calm enjoyment of _Black Two’s_ maintenance.

* * *

For a time, Poe was able to banish the thought of Terex's hot off the presses book, but it followed him, much like the man itself.

Waiting in line in the mess, he'd heard more of the same whispers, the sound of a thousand datapads opening. He hadn't bothered to crack the copy Ollie had given him - anything that said such awful things about the General had nothing worth reading - but the entire Resistance base seemed to be awash with it.

Seeing familiar faces, he walked over to Finn and Rose, eager to talk to someone who wouldn't be whispering about that damn book. He sat down next to Finn and Rose who both stared at him as if he grew another head while he was picking up his veggie loaf.

"What?" he asked, digging into the loaf and wincing. They definitively had to go on a supply run, soon; he hated this stuff.

Finn and Rose looked at one another, and then back at him. An unspoken communication seemed to dance between their looks, and Poe raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Rose whipped back toward him. "Is it true?" She asked her voice a little watery. "You and ...that guy?"

"What?" Poe tilted his head. "What guy?"

"Terex," Finn said, in a harsh whisper as he looked around. "Haven't you read it yet?"

"Oh god, that book again?" Poe plunged into the loaf, rolling his eyes. "The squad mentioned I was in it, but that's all just - how do you even get past the first chapter? All I had to see was Leia being an imperial plant to know it was all trash."

"Well, I mean, it's obvious some of it is embellished, yeah. No one is gonna buy Phasma being a lizard person." Finn looked down and stabbed at his own veggie loaf, twirling it around his fork as if he would, at some point, manage to make it more edible by inserting more air holes. "But you know, the part with you that's - I mean, you gotta learn somewhere, right?"

"Well, I did learn his head was awful hard," Poe said with a laugh. "I almost scraped my hand on it when I grabbed it. And then his head got awful red, especially after I punched it."

Poe felt, more than heard, the scrape of dozens of chairs as they all rose toward him.

"I think you better look at that chapter," Rose said, blushing so red that she was close to the color of some of the more root-like veggie bits in the 'loaf.

In a room deathly quiet, Poe Damaeron searched his own name. The datapad, ancient tech humming through it, searched his name with three spinning dots for a long time before his name appeared in aurabesh.

 _Poe Dameron is a good pilot,_ the first sentence read; Poe raised an eyebrow. It was odd that he agreed with Terex, but it was true and it was nice to have recognition for his skills.

 _I taught him everything he knows_ , read the second. "Oh," Poe said, quietly. "That's a kriffing lie."

"So you didn't...?" Finn raised an eyebrow and then smiled. "I knew it. You're too classy to fall for a guy like that."

"I - what?" Poe, confused, read on, scanning a couple paragraphs of Terex bloviating on the proper manner of executing a barrel roll (which was, surprisingly, accurate). And then, he saw it: three paragraphs after Terex described a fictional encounter about Poe crashing his first X-wing and needing help to be rescued - and paying for said rescue in a hot and torrid affair that had, evidently, gone on for years.

‘What the kriffing - " Poe stood up.”This isn't true. None of this is true!"

"Hey, we didn't think it was," Finn held up his hands. Just I mean, when he’s going around saying Lando Calrissian was Palpatine and Phasma's  a gigantic lizard-woman who is psychically connected to all microwave systems, well - I mean, it's an awful mundane lie in comparison, is all."

"Well it's a lie." Poe looked around at dozens of tables, each trying to not look at Poe while all clearly were, at the very least, listening for his reaction. Suddenly so much was clear.

"Poe -” Rose reached out her hand, but Poe swatted it away, still hurt that anyone could think he would have anything to do with Terex, but especially friends who had to know he was far too dedicated to the Resistance to have done ANYTHING with that stupid, snobbish idiot. Just because he was HANDSOME and a GOOD PILOT didn't mean Poe was gonna - he swallowed.

"Look, I think I'm gonna eat in my room," he said, his chair scrapping across the floor.

"Poe - " Finn called, but Poe shook his head.

"Not now, buddy. I just...I need time." He stood up, his chair scrapping across the floor of the mess hall. Just as well it was veggie loaf day; Poe had lost all sense of taste anyway.

* * *

He'd read the rest of the book after that; partly out of not wanting  to be taken by surprise again, and partly to seek any sort of reason for why, exactly, Terex had concocted such a ridiculous bevy of lies. For the most part, they were outright ridiculous — not just that Leia and Darth Vader had, in fact, tag teamed Palpatine,  but  that Phasma was a seven foot tall lizard, or that there was a person just like Wedge Antilles that had at one point been called Fake Wedge and lived a parallel life as a rebellion pilot. Ridiculous stuff.

But there had been only one lie that even Poe could admit was semi-probable, and that had been the evidently torrid love affair he and Terex had carried out from across the stars. It was, in fact, a continuing theme of the novel once it reached the era once the Republic had fallen apart; Poe had evidently, in Terex's fantasy life, chased him repeatedly, though dozens of conflicts. They'd evidently had sex during the seige of Taba'rit, and even L'ulo's death hadn't stopped them from getting together. It was a somewhat touching love affair, and even he might be charmed by the story of star-crossed love on both sides if only - if only! - it was true in any way, shape, or form.

And now he knew everyone was thinking about it.

Despite being written by a former member of the enemy side, the story had all but swept through the Resistance.

There was a knock on the door of his group quarters; he stood and opened it, hoping like hell it wasn't another person seeking to find out the dirt and was just a flyboy who'd lost their damn keys.

His heart almost skipped a beat when Admiral Ackbar appeared on the other side of the door; he blinked his large eyes and looked, if anything, skittish. "Might I ah - come in, Commander?"

"Of course," he said, because when a man as distinguished as the god damn admiral asked to see you, you saw him. His balls threatened to shrivel back until they had fully receded to his body as the admiral sat down and fixed him with a long and tired look. Poe knew, in no uncertain terms, this was about the god damn book, and he was absolutely going to _fucking kill_ Terex.

"It's a terrible thing, war," Ackbar said, leaning back on Poe's cot. Carefully, he held out a hand, which Poe took with some hesitance.

"Yes, sir," Poe said, carefully.

“I've been in enough situations to know that desperate times can sometimes bring very ...complicated, passionate relationships. IT's not unique to you, you know. Why, my sister, Yasana, had a very passionate affair with a Quarren once. And it was a happy union, at times."

"Uhm, sir —-"

"I myself have never been in love with an imperial, but...Love is a wonderful thing. It can blossom across battlefields, for sure. I hope you understand I'm not judging. But you mustn’t let it be a trap; you mustn't allow yourself to give information to this...Terex. He's still in the First Order, and as such — "

"Sir, that won't be a problem." Poe raised up his arms. "I don't plan on telling him anything but that his book isa big, bald-faced lie the next time I see him."

"Oh." Ackbar tilted his head, as if trying to reconcile conflicting information in his mind. "Oh, well then. I just - so we're clear..."

"Yeah, I got it. Don't worry." Poe shook his head. "I don't plan on sleeping with him any time soon."

"Well, so long as your priorities are clear." Ackbar stood and shook his hand.

He couldn't shake it, but he had the odd feeling that the admiral was disappointed in him.

If this was some kind of elaborate revenge scheme on Terex's side, Poe had to admit: it was working.

Poe turned off the lights and despite it only being mid-evening in the night cycle, he closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep, hoping people would lose interest by morning.

But he felt their eyes on him the entire time.

* * *

General Organa was waiting for him by his ship; there was something different about her and Poe's stomach dropped again in dread. He'd barely survived the talk with Admiral Ackbar; he wasn’t sure he could survive the talk with the General. Especially when she looked like this; apprehensive, her hands held gingerly in front of her like she held the whole universe upright. For once, it looked as if she had actually slept through the night, which Poe wasn't sure if that was a good thing — or a very bad one.

"Morning, General," he said; she looked up at him and smiled - smiled! - and Poe decided that this was very bad indeed. He had seen Leia Organa smile all of twice in his life, and both times were before fire fights were about to break out. He'd counted himself lucky to be on her side in both fights.

"Poe," she said warmly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Walk with me."

At those words, Poe was pretty sure he was about to die. They walked in silence through the halls of the Resistance base; early in the morning, few were awake, though he caught a glimpse of Rey as she meditated, legs crossed upon a rock with her eyes closed.

After the silence had gone from merely awkward to agonizing, Poe took a deep breath and decided to just just get it over with. "General, I know this is probably about that book — "

Leia made a snorting noise. "In a way."

"But it's all lies, okay? Me and Terex, we've fought a few times, but it's not like we're some tragic bullshit love affair."

"I know," General Organa said, patting his shoulder. "I didn't believe that of you anymore than I believe that Rey is the reincarnation of Palpatine. I'd met Palpatine, I would know. And I certainly am sure I would have remembered sleeping with a stormtrooper at some point."

"Thank the Force," Poe said, the heavy feeling centered in his gut all but dissipating. If the general believed him, he didn't need anyone else to do so.

"But...that's not to say it isn't useful." She quirked an eyebrow, looking directly at him and he realized for the first time that her eyes were _hopeful_.

"Ben - Kylo Ren - reached to me," she said, softly. "My Ben."

"General?"

"He read that Terex book. And it's ridiculous, yes, and so obviously a lie but - reading that, it made him rethink his assumptions about me, about his grandfather, about...everything."

"None of it is true, general," he said, his emotions unmoored. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to center himself. "We're just gonna let him believe you were some kind of imperial honey pot?!"

"Of course not," Leia shrugged. "Boy has been through enough. I will educate him in the truth when he comes."

"When he comes?" Poe laughed, shaking his head. He tried to imagine Kylo Ren inspecting their ships, their people – and failed.

"I invited him. We are...initiating a ceasefire, for now." Leia folded her hands into her robes, and for the first time in Poe's life, looked frail. Tired. He didn't like seeing it.

"How could you - how can you be sure he won't turn on you?" Poe demanded; his voice bounced off of the hallway's walls.

"I don't." Leia shrugged, her voice almost a whisper in comparison to his loud shouting. "We won't be stupid about it. I want you to give him an honor guard — and if he tries anything fishy, or he isn't alone, shoot him down."

"Disable or kill?" Poe said, through clenched teeth.

"Whatever is necessary," Leia waved a hand. "I think it is legitimate though. It's ...hard for him to lie, in the manner we talked."

"Is this a force thing, ma'am?"

"Hm." Leia nodded. "Something like that. Just...if this is the good that comes out of that thing, well..." She shrugged. "I'm open to that, Poe. Perhaps you should be, as well."

"What's that supposed to mean, ma'am?"

Her eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief as she raised an eyebrow, then abruptly changed topic. "I think I'll mention the ceasefire over breakfast in the mess. Get your crew prepped for honor guard duties, and try to stop any itchy trigger fingers. Understand?"

"Yes'm," he said, already sighing. 

He'd always hoped for the war to end, but, well, he'd never thought it would be like this.

* * *

Six weeks later, Poe Dameron led the honor guard that let Kylo Ren - now known as Ben Solo once more - enter the Resistance's base. He watched Ben Solo pledge loyalty to their general, and just like that, the war was over. They had _won_.

And Poe tried to be happy about it, he truly did. But the fact that Terex's book had, somehow, caused the end of the war (which the rushed-out second edition of the book very loudly exclaimed on its cover, as if he somehow _knew_ ). 

It  bothered him. At first only a bit, but then more and more, until a flood of bother fell down upon him; until any time someone talked about that damn book, or asked if another movement he plotted in _Black Two_ was based on something Terex had taught him - well, it rankled.

And it happened, over and over again.

And maybe Poe wasn't as nice as he could have been about it, after denying it so many weeks. And maybe he started itching for a fight, but there wasn't a fight left, and maybe Poe was having a hard time with that.

And Poe saw, on the third edition (now with a line that _three hundred million copies had been sold_ ), that Terex was having a book tour to promote the works, and that it would, in fact, be landing in what had once been the last base of the Resistance and would now be the first base of the new, golden Republic.

And maybe Poe decided, after careful deliberation, to confront him about it. All he had to do was buy a copy, and if that meant getting to punch Terex's rock-hard head, he was all for it.

***

He waited in line, a copy of the newest - and, according to Terex, who had bloviated to nearly every person in line that this would be the final revision until his new book came out. He rolled his eyes, anger building with every step as he moved toward Terex. He wasn't sure, exactly, what he would say, but - it would be good. His hands shook with anticipation, staring at Terex's smiling face.

The fragile peace had been good to him; he was a little wider than Poe had last seen him, his mustache a little bit fuller and his eyes quite livelier. He was a handsome man, still, Poe had to admit, though it pained him to do so. In another universe, maybe they would have been flyboys together, running and fighting at beating at one another's records like rivals. Maybe some of Terex's many rumors could have been true - maybe. Though he tried not to think about it.

"Mr. Terex, I have to say — " a man ahead of him was saying,"I'm a fan, big fan. I've just - I can't say what you've done to heal us, these stories of true to life figures..."

Poe rolled his eyes. Great. Terex had found someone who wanted to talk almost as much as he did. 

"Oh, my dear boy, you are too kind," Terex said, smiling like a wolf. His eyes looked up from the man to Poe, next in line, and something within those eyes sparked. Poe didn't even dare blink as Terex keep his eyes on Poe, and let the tiniest of smirks cross his face.

And then it was over. Smooth as silk, he went right back into the man thanking him for personally saving the universe ( _as if_!). It was almost admirable, in as much as anything about Terex was admirable.

And then it was his turn.

Poe slammed the book down on the table, and he heard the sudden quieting of the crowd behind him.

"Terex," he said, coolly, and he paused, trying to decide whether calling him a son of a bitch or a fucking motherfucker was a better turn of phrase when Terex stood.

"Ah, Poe!" He leaned forward, kissing Poe's cheek. Poe shoved him away and tried to ignore the searing mark of it; it felt more like a brand than a kiss.  "My friend, how I have missed you."

"That so," Poe said, unnerved. "Can't say the same."

"Oh, you old jokester, haha!" Terex grabbed his shoulder and laughed. Poe's fingers curled into a fist and he punched Terex in the stomach, hard as he could without alerting security to Terex's predicament. Terex coughed but otherwise gave no indication of being hit, only whispering into his ear. "Sixteen hundred hours, _The Oak and Marmot_. Don't be late."

"What?" Poe blinked as Terex released him, winking.

"We'll catch up at the meeting later," Terex said, signing Poe's book with an unreadable flourish. "Talk to you then, lover boy."

"That's so sweet," a pilot behind him whispered. "They're keeping the romance alive."

"I wasn't finished, Terex!" Poe protested, but an unseen bodyguard grabbed his arm, and Poe knew it was over.

"Dammit," he whispered. "Dammit."

* * *

And, even hating himself for doing it, he found himself moving toward the restaurant at the requested time. A part of him was curious, and a larger part of him still wanted to pound Terex's face in.

It bothered him, that Terex hadn't dropped the charade. He'd expected Terex to come clean, somehow; that the man would at least drop the charade around him, if only to gloat.

He had dressed up nicely, though it certainly wasn't for Terex's sake. The best revenge was living well, after all. And it wasn't like he had much else to do; most of his patrols were quiet, now that there wasn't a war going on. He could take the afternoon off without anyone even noticing.

At sixteen hundred, he approached the restaurant, which had crowds surging all around. He ignored the uncomfortable feeling of a bunch of photos going off in his general direction. He ignored the whispers; he'd been followed by them so long that it was, frankly, beginning to fade into the background. He ignored everything but the man sitting at the most central table with a shit-eating grin on his face.

" _Honey_ ," Terex said, the word sounding like slime on his tongue. Poe sat down, ignoring the throbbing feeling in his temples as he picked up a menu and debating shoving it down Terex's throat.

"So nice you could come," Terex said, then turned, smiling at a camera. "I have missed you, you know."

Poe said nothing.

"Excuse me, uhm - sirs, sirs," a waitress stumbled toward them, visible awestruck. "Uhm, can I uhm, order...?"

"I'll have the largest shaak steak, extra extra rare if you please, and a glass of your finest wine. And my darling over here will have a diagona tentacle, with a side of its eggs, if you would. Just water for him, I’m afraid. Has to watch those hips, you know."

"Uh, I don't wan't — " Poe started, but the waitress snapped her notebook closed.

"Oh don't you worry, Mr. Dameron. Diagona is one of chef's specialties!" And with that, she was gone.

Terex chuckled then pulled out a death stick, offering it to Poe.

"Disgusting habit," Poe said. "Just like you."

"Oh, I agree, but you rebels never seem to quite care for your health in any other way, so I figured..." Terex shook his shoulders and smiled. "Ah, I had missed you Poe. The last month  has been good to me."

He lit the death stick, ignoring several copious signs indicating he shouldn't. Poe coughed as the vile smile hit his nose. He'd always hated deathsticks, and he swore Terex had found the absolute smelliest, somehow.

"Yeah, must be fun to lie without consequences," he grumbled. "Why'd you do it, anyway?"

"Oh, you know how I love games, darling," Terex said, chomping down harder on his death stick.

Poe stared at Terex's _kriffing_ laughing face, suddenly glad he was not a force sensitive. Terex would transform him into sith with little more than his smug little mustache.

Terex blew him a kiss, still cackling. For a few awkward moments, they stared at one moment, Poe wishing more than anything that his eyes really were daggers.

"But why though? Why lie about me and you?" Poe demanded; Terex ignored him and turned to their returning waitress, eagerly accepting his steak. She didn't even ask him to put out his death stick, though Poe noticed she blanched as she picked up what had to be his meal. She shoved what, judging by the stench, we definitively diagona toward him, and left quickly.

"Because I _could_ , dearest," Terex said quietly after she’d left. "Haven't you just wanted to watch the world burn? Just for _fun_?"

"No," he said, standing. So that was it, was it; Terex was bored and thought he’d be a funny punch line. Poe was, really, disappointed more than anything. He decided within a second that he didn’t want to be a joke, not anymore. "This was a waste of time."

"Darling —” Terex called, but Poe ignored him, turning toward the bathroom. He'd just, just wash his face and go, that was all.  Terex could take his book and shove it. He'd just have to go to the outer rim, maybe take up bush piloting, he'd always wanted the challenge of those little skippers anyway.

He ran water over his face, scrubbing until his temples stopped pulsing. The door creaked open and Terex peaked his ugly mug in.

"Go away," Poe said, the throbbing instantly re-appearing. "I'm done with you."

"Oh, don't be like that." Terex shuffled next to him, watching him carefully. "I wrote it for you, you know."

"What?"

"People like you and me," Terex stretched out a hand and smiled. "We're not meant for peacetime. We're warriors, Poe! Predators. And predators _need_ prey."

"I'm not some shaak you can hunt down," Poe said, flatly, shoving Terex's hand off his hand with more force than necessary.

"Oh no," Terex murmured. "Don't you see? You and I are both dogs, Poe, fighting over a bone. That's all that's left for old warriors, like us! Peace was inevitable, but you and I...You and I can keep fighting for scraps, all through history now. I've given you a _nemesis_. You should be _honored_."

"Do you actually believe the crap you're trying to sell?" Poe shoved him again, with perhaps more force than necessary. "You're crazy, you know that? Kriffing crazy."

"Oh yes," Terex said, shoving Poe back until his back hit the bathroom stall with a heavy smack. "But we're alike, boy. Push me, shove me!" Terex's eyes were heavy, glistening with a fire that Poe had never seen before this. "Fight me. _Fight me_."

The door opened again, a photographer with a holo-camera just barely rising, and Poe saw what he needed what he needed to do. Without even contemplating it, he raised his hands, cupping Terex's face, and smiled.

"That's it, boy! _That's_ it." Terex snarled, like a rabid cur, and Poe ignored it as he grabbed Terex's head and kissed him, ignoring the taste of deathstick on his lips.

Terex bucked away from him like an animal, wild and startled by the unexpected input, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the flashbulb of the paparazzi from going off.

"I'm sorry, love," Poe said, slipping down on one knee as more press hounded them into the small bathroom. "It's just the pressure of the moment, you know..."

He grabbed Terex's hand and saw panic in those old soldier's eyes. _Excellent_. "Poe, what are you —”

"The war is over, darling. We don't need to hide anymore," Poe said, laughing. "Let's get married."

"Poe—” Terex's eyes glanced in wide panic over to all the holo-cams, now all transmitting live, and his eyes narrowed.  "What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?"

"I'm just so crazy in love, darling." Poe curled his hand over his and put enough pressure down to hurt. Terex's face was apocalyptically red. "I forgot the ring, I hope you don't mind, but..."

"What's your answer, Terex?" One press member shouted, and Terex went stock still.

For a moment, neither of them talked; no doubt Terex was already coming to the conclusion Poe had already come to - there was no escape, not without giving up all of Terex's ill-gotten gains.

"I'd love to," Terex snarled, pulling Poe up. Poe smiled, slinging his arm over Terex's shoulder as he leaned into the man's ear, whispering, " _Game, set, match_."

Terex's mustache twitched unhappily as Poe escorted him out.

"Well played, boy," Terex said, as soon as they were out of earshot. "But don't think this is the end."

"Oh it's not." Poe said, smiling. "Not for the rest of your life, darling."

After all, a lie repeated often enough was truth. And if he had to live with that, well, maybe Terex had to live with it, too.


End file.
